Abstract: For providing video-on-demand (VOD) a set comprising a plurality of N video programs at staggered time intervals is repeatedly transmitting from a VOD server to a network for access by a view box of an user; responsive to a request for access to a selected program by the user, there is selection of that in-progress transmission of the selected program for which a lead-in portion is shortest and storage of the program in a buffer associated with the view box as it is transmitted. A previously stored beginning portion of the selected program having a time length sufficient to compensate for that time interval is selected, in a memory associated with the view box, and outputting to the view box for display. The in-progress transmission stored in the buffer is continuously spliced to a conclusion of the beginning portion. All different video programs in a same set are transmitted with mutual time shifts equal to a fraction of the staggered interval.

Abstract: The speed of decoding processing for variable-length coded image data is improved.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for implementing an enhanced reduced memory mode (RMM) of decoding HDTV MPEG-2 video stream. In one instance, the RMM mode is adaptively enabled with up/down conversion by using the picture-type information. In another instance, the RMM mode is provided by performing anchor-frame compression/decompression by using adaptive DPCM technique with picture-type information. The quantization (PCM) tables are generated using the Lloyd algorithm. Further, the predictor for each pixel is determined by a use of the Graham rule.

Abstract: Past image point information is also considered as well as local neighboring image point information in the interpolation of a predicted picture for motion-compensated prediction of moving pictures with increased resolution. Motion-compensated image point information is used in the interpolation raster between the scanned values of the reference picture (s?(t?1)) for the predicted picture of increased resolution.

Abstract: A method for efficient low power motion estimation of a digital video image is provided in which processing requirements are reduced based upon the content being processed. The method performs motion estimation of a current video image using a search window of a previous video image. The method may include forming mean pyramids of a reference macroblock and the search area and a full search at a lowest resolution. A number of candidate motion vectors (CMVs) propagated to lower levels may be dependent on a quantized average deviation estimate (QADE) of a current macroblock and the maximum distortion band obtained during training for that QADE value at that particular level. Training over a sequence may be triggered at the beginning of every sequence. This training technique may be used to determine the value of the maximum distortion band for all QADEs of the macroblocks occurring over the training frames.

Abstract: An object-region-data describing method for describing object region data relating to a time-series variation of an object region in video data including a plurality of frames, the method comprising obtaining a conversion parameter representing conversion from a reference object region into a target object, approximating a time-series variation of the conversion parameter by an approximate function, and describing the object region data using an approximate function parameter identifying the approximate function and information on the reference object region. Thus, it is possible to describe a region of the desired object in video data by a small quantity of data and facilitate generating the object regions and handling data on the object region.

Abstract: A non-linear video edit system has first, second and third play modes which are selectable at time of playing a video for an edit. In the first play mode (EP TRIM), it plays a first cut scene (scene A) before an edit point and plays a second cut scene (scene B) after the edit point according to a play list. In the second play mode (PREV TRIM), it successively plays the first cut scene (scene A) before and after the edit point. In the third play mode (NEXT TRIM), it successively plays the second cut scene (scene B) before and after the edit point. These play modes allows to change the play speed in an arbitrary direction by a dial, and to switch the play mode with one touch of the corresponding three buttons with aligning current positions.

Abstract: A method and a device are provided, in which a signal is encoded to obtain a bit-stream. Blocks of quantized transform coefficients are provided. Transform coefficients corresponding to higher frequencies are attenuated more than coefficients corresponding to lower frequencies. For attenuating higher-frequency coefficients, the invention provides a curve (QC) with higher quantization step-size (QADD) for transform coefficients (Ci) corresponding to higher frequencies. Because this additional quantization step size (QADD) is put in the resulting bit-stream, the reconstruction is performed with an original quantization step-size, without taking the additional quantizing into account. Therefore, a reconstructed coefficient will have a lower value than an original coefficient (Ci). Bit rates can easily be regulated by shifting the curve (QC) to lower or higher frequencies and/or multiplying the curve (QC).

Abstract: Still picture images are encoded and transmitted at reduced rates using the MPEG-2 standard. Video frames are captured for processing at a still picture capture rate that is lower than the video input frame rate. The captured frames are compressed as Intra frames at the input frame rate. Selected ones of the compressed frames are inserted in the MPEG-2 transport stream for communication to a decoder at a still picture repetition rate which is no less, in frames per second, than the capture rate.

Abstract: With the new plasma display panel technology new kinds of artifacts can occur in video pictures. These artifacts are commonly described as dynamic false contour effect, since they correspond to disturbances of grey levels and colors in the form of an apparition of colored edges in the picture when the observation point on the PDP screen moves. According to the invention such an artifact is compensated by analyzing the motion in the pictures assigning to each block of a picture a corresponding motion vector and performing a re-coding step in which a sub-field code word entry of a current pixel are calculated. For this purpose the motion vector is defined to point from a pixel in a previous picture to a pixel in the current picture. The sub-field code word entries for a current pixel (P8) are determined by dragging sub-field entries of the pixels lying on the motion vector trajectory.

Abstract: The present invention relates to systems and methods for applying information obtained from compressed video data to statistical remultiplexing. A compressed bitstream including compressed video data is received. The compressed video data is then parsed. One or more compression statistics are then generated from the parsed compressed video data. Information associated with the compression statistics is then provided to a statistical remultiplexer.

Abstract: Embodiments of a three-dimensional wavelet transform are described. An inverse three-dimensional discrete wavelet transformation (IDWT) is applied to a plurality of transformed video image sub-blocks. The sub-blocks of transformed video images are inverse transformed by applying a bit-based conditional decoding to the embedded zero tree encoded DWT coefficients of the block to obtain a DWT coefficient matrix, up-sampling respective sub-blocks of the DWT coefficient matrix by row, column and frame, filtering and combining one or more respective pairs of up-sampled sub-blocks to produce an up-sampled sub-block corresponding to each respective pair, reapplying the filtering and combining step to any produced up-sampled sub-block pairs until one up-sampled sub-block remains and multiplying the one remaining up-sampled sub-block by eight to produce a block at the next higher resolution.

Abstract: The invention relates to the field of two-dimensional sub-band coding techniques, extended to video data by including the temporal domain within the decomposition: in order to deal with objects having large displacements, motion estimation and compensation are added, which may however result in considerable information overhead to the detriment of texture. For a good trade-off between the need of a true motion field and the size of the resulting motion information to be encoded, the invention relates to a method allowing to keep the amount of motion vector information reasonably low and to allocate more bits to texture in non-moving areas. Said method first performs a preliminary analysis which allows to identify parts of the image not requiring a precise description of the motion information, followed by a motion estimation on the basis of this preliminary information.

Abstract: A system integrated onboard a vehicular platform is provided for capturing video and/or audio data. The system (5) includes a plurality of video acquisition units (10) situated on the vehicular platform, at least one audio acquisition unit (20) operable to acquire an audio record within a predetermined region thereby, at least one removable data storage unit (40) for digitally storing the acquired video and audio records, a control unit (30) operably coupled to the video and audio acquisition units (10, 20) and to the removable data storage unit (40), a programmable user interface (50) coupled to the control unit by a local intercommunication link (60), and an intercommunications unit (70) operably coupled to the local intercommunication link (60). Each video acquisition unit (10) is operable to acquire a video record of at least one predetermined monitored area.

Abstract: In addition to an autofocusing operation performed under visible light, an autofocusing operation is also performed under infrared light. By using infrared light, changes in the contrast can be detected accurately regardless of the character of the image. As a result, the focused position can be detected with a high degree of accuracy even in a dark image or an image in which the character of the image changes drastically. In addition, by ascertaining the difference between the infrared light focused position and the visible light focused position and correcting with the infrared light focused position, a focused matched position can be detected with an even higher degree of accuracy.

Abstract: A method of interpolation in video coding in which an image comprising pixels arranged in rows and columns and represented by values having a specified dynamic range, the pixels in the rows residing at unit horizontal locations and the pixels in the columns residing at unit vertical locations, is interpolated to generate values for sub-pixels at fractional horizontal and vertical locations, the method comprising: a) when values for sub-pixels at half unit horizontal and unit vertical locations, and unit horizontal and half unit vertical locations are required, interpolating such values directly using weighted sums of pixels residing at unit horizontal and unit vertical locations; b) when values for sub-pixels at half unit horizontal and half unit vertical locations are required, interpolating such values directly using a weighted sum of values for sub-pixels residing at half unit horizontal and unit vertical locations calculated according to step (a); and c) when values for sub-pixels at quarter unit horiz

Abstract: In a video coding apparatus, coding/decoding circuitry provides motion-compensated inter-frame prediction coding on input frames by using reference frames so that the input frames are coded into an intra-frame coded picture, a predictive coded picture or a bi-directionally predictive coded picture and decoding the coded frames to produce reference frames. Decision circuitry determines the magnitude of motion of the input frames relative to the reference frames, determines the interval between successive frames of the predictive coded picture according to the determined magnitude of motion and reorders the input frames according to the determined interval.

Abstract: A system and a method for wavelet-based low bitrate video coding is provided. The system and method of this invention processes each frame of a video sequence based on its content. The discrete wavelet transform of each frame is taken separately. If the difference between the contents of a first frame and a second frame is above a threshold, then the wavelet transformed second frame is quantized and lossless encoded. If the difference is less than a threshold, then motion estimation is employed in wavelet domain. Then the difference between the wavelet transformed second frame and the motion compensated wavelet transformed second frame is quantized and lossless encoded. The quantization is applied by using dynamic adjustment. The quantization tables are optimized based on the coded frame characteristics. In addition to the coded frames, the lossless coded motion vectors are also transmitted to the decoder unit.

Abstract: An error recovery method of a video transfer system includes the steps of: setting a refresh rate on the basis of a packet loss rate of a video frame; and encoding a macro-block of the video frame in an intra mode according to the set refresh rate. Since the effective intra encoding method in consideration of the packet loss rate is provided, the image state of the receiving party can be taken into consideration and a mobile image service of a high picture quality can be provided on a real time basis. In addition, since the error recovery method of a video transfer system of the present invention has the flexible refresh rate considering the image state (the picture quality state) of the receiving party, it is suitable for the error recovery method for a high picture quality video transferring.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for coding video includes constructing motion-compensated extended base layer reference frames from base layer frames and at least portions of base layer residual image frames. The motion-compensated extended base layer reference frames are used for bi-directionally or uni-directionally predicting FGS motion-compensated residual image or temporal frames.